Clover sidewalk

Clover sidewalk, originally uploaded by billaday.

Some days I feel like the curb; other days I feel like the clovers.

Day 167

before/during

before/during, originally uploaded by billaday.

We're remodeling the bathroom. You've seen the cliché "before and after" shot. Well, it's not done yet, so here's the before and during shot. The "after" will come by Saturday.

Day 166

window dressing

window dressing, originally uploaded by billaday.

This building was actually available for lease. Who would want to spend thousands of dollars to have their business here? Seriously?

Day 165

Wicked

Wicked, originally uploaded by billaday.

If you've seen the play Wicked, think of the end of Act One. Yeah. (If not, it's really cool. So go see it.)

Day 164

I have the power

I have the power, originally uploaded by billaday.

Remember when He-Man said that every episode? That rocked.

Day 163

Centennial Lane

Centennial Lane, originally uploaded by billaday.

Azusa Pacific University has these giant pillars in the driveway. I think it's their anti-drinking and driving campaign. There's 20 or so of these in the middle of where you travel.

Day 162

spotlight on painting

spotlight on painting, originally uploaded by billaday.

My dad was doing some late night painting with the porch light on. He was kind enough to let me walk around and take pictures. He was quite patient with me constantly in his way while he was working. The table thing looked really nice at the end.

Day 161

exit

exit, originally uploaded by billaday.

After an epic game of Foosball, Mark was either radiating light, or stepping into the light.

Day 160

take the test already

take the test already, originally uploaded by billaday.

The most important step in preparing for a test is a sharpened pencil, and a sharpened mind. Ok, the two most important steps...

Day 159

Mr. Sun

Mr. Sun, originally uploaded by billaday.

This happy guy is on the side of my house, though I'm not sure exactly why.

Day 158

The door on the bus goes open and shut, All through the town

The door on the bus goes open and shut, All through the town, originally uploaded by billaday.

Yeah, that's right. I used a line from The Wheel on the Bus for the title. And now you're singing it.

Day 157

Light

Light, originally uploaded by billaday.

They say that light is the second most important part of a photo. Well, I was on the roof of a parking structure trying to get some shots of handrails and stuff, and the sunlight was ruining what I was attempting. So, I turned around and took a picture of the sun. It's a pretty cool gradient going from super white to a rich blue.

Day 156

the wings of an angel

the wings of an angel, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've passed by this statue before, but never really stopped and looked at it. The texture of the angel's wings caught my eye today.

Day 155

Dire wolves

Dire wolves, originally uploaded by billaday.

We went to the La Brea Tar Pits for a field trip today. It turns out, many wolves died in Los Angeles 40,000 years ago. Mental note, if you see a huge pit full of tar, don't walk into it. You'll die, slowly.

Day 154

Hi hat

Hi hat, originally uploaded by billaday.

Drums are cool. No matter who you are, you are cool when you play the drums (well).

Day 153

You Are Beautiful in the gutter

You Are Beautiful in the gutter, originally uploaded by billaday.

Irony defined.

Day 152

Griller

Griller, originally uploaded by billaday.

Oh, how I love the Griller. One of my stock meals is a Griller with Pasta-roni. yum.

Day 151

Chili dog

Chili dog, originally uploaded by billaday.

We went to see Wicked. It was really great. Beforehand, we ate at Kabuki, and passed this place walking to the Pantages.

Day 150

go ahead and jump

go ahead and jump, originally uploaded by billaday.

Our school participated in Jump Rope for Heart. Angie rocked out. It was tricky to make sure all the kids' faces were super blurry and undistinguishable, since this is the internet and it is my photo-a-day.

Day 149

handrails

handrails, originally uploaded by billaday.

They REALLY want to make sure nobody slips and falls.

Day 148

The 101

The 101, originally uploaded by billaday.

I like Los Angeles. It has way more character than my suburban town Glendora. Here's another example why.

Day 147

Orange you glad I...

Orange you glad I..., originally uploaded by billaday.

(insert your punchline here:)

Day 146

Mr. and Mrs.

Mr. and Mrs., originally uploaded by billaday.

So Heather and Andy finally got married. And I finally went to a wedding without a job: not the photographer, not the guitarist, just a guest. It was strange.

I only took 4 pictures of the actual ceremony. I was officially a guest and was determined to act as one. This was photo #4 of the wedding. The shutter speed was 1/15 sec. It gave me time to pan the camera as they walked quickly down the aisle and out the church. No photoshopping here. Good ol' fashioned hold the camera steady and follow the important people.

Oh yeah. Congratulations you two!

Day 145

musician.

musician., originally uploaded by billaday.

Greg is the keyboard player for The Francis Band. Equipped with his MacBook, a Korg synthesizer, and a delay pedal, he's the guy everyone makes fun of in the band, and he's also the guy that everyone is stoked on when we start playing. With Greg, we're like Angels & Airwaves, except for the popularity and the whiney voice.

Day 144

insect shadow

insect shadow, originally uploaded by billaday.

I opened up my front door this morning and found this bee hanging out on the door. He didn't move, so I grabbed my camera (which was fortunately in my pocket) and got about an inch away.

What I learned from this photo-a-day is that the first photo is either the best or worst. I took 25 pictures of this bee and this is the first one.

Day 143

railer

railer, originally uploaded by billaday.

There's a joke in this story... I promise.

We had an 8 hour RIF hearing. RIF = Reduction In Force = Layoff. A synonym for bummer is railer. So, to me, that's funny.

What's not funny is that our state (California) doesn't care much about education these days.

Day 142

Borax

Borax, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is that old hand soap that's bright pink and gritty. It's that stuff you can never get off your hands or get to be foamy. I can almost feel it right now. Yuk.

For whatever reason, this bag was right next to the fridge in the teacher's lounge.

Day 141

Spoke

Spoke, originally uploaded by billaday.

I did not have a colonoscopy today, but I picked up someone who did. The opposite of fun is colonoscopy.

Day 140

Reb

Reb, originally uploaded by billaday.

I'm a big fan of foosball. We play every Sunday and have helped coin several foos terms: the masterful, the mach 1, the Dartagnon, the Bobby Kovina, the flying tuna, and so on. This guy is a replacement--he's grey, so he fits on the blue or red team. Since he's rebellious, we call him Mr. Rebel... Johnny Rebel. He's the only professional athlete I know who doesn't wear the team's uniform.

Day 139

Vanishing overpass

Vanishing overpass, originally uploaded by billaday.

I didn't look at my camera when I snapped this shot (while driving on the overpass). I imagined what I thought it would look like... and I was right! I processed this photo with GAF500 film, so it's grainy.

Day 138

I didn't notice it sparkles until this

I didn't notice it sparkles until this, originally uploaded by billaday.

One of my favorite parts of my Photo-a-Day project is discovering the art in life. Sorry for the cheesiness (cheesyness?). I thought the engraving was plain old silver. Now I know it's shiny and sparkles.

Day 137

fancy car

fancy car, originally uploaded by billaday.

I really like my hybrid car... especially when gas is now $4.00/gallon. Ugh. I'd like to take this moment to personally thank (sarcasm here) our president for taking the gas price from 8 years ago and quadrupling it. When he took office, the national average was $1 a gallon. It should be a crime to spend more than $40 to fill up a hybrid. Blah blah, end the rant. I really just like the warm, glowing blue of my dashboard.

Day 136

flowers in the dark

flowers in the dark, originally uploaded by billaday.

This could be a girl version of those new, trendy shirts that look more like silkscreen mistakes than artistic shirts.

Day 135

keys

keys, originally uploaded by billaday.

Have I mentioned that I really like my laptop? Cuz I do. I need to watch out, and make sure my photo-a-day has more pictures of my wife than my computer. Because she IS more important.

Day 134

wash your hands?

wash your hands?, originally uploaded by billaday.

I thought the goal of washing your hands was to prevent you from getting sick.

This was at the Masonic Lodge; our school district had a hearing to decide if I (and 240 colleagues) could keep our teaching jobs next year. There were so many people they may be laying off, they had to rent out the Masonic Lodge. I didn't mind the super gross sink, because I thought it might be a clue that Benjamin Gates left for me.

Day 133

Trunk

Trunk, originally uploaded by billaday.

I have few regrets about not attaining rock star status. The main one is that I have to lug around and set up my own guitars. Sometimes, for really big shows, people do stuff for me. That's the life.

Day 132

Lego Planet

Lego Planet, originally uploaded by billaday.

There's something that's always bugged me about this building--it's interesting to me, but I've never had a photo of it that's been interesting to me. So, while waiting at a stoplight, I took this shot... and I really like it.

Day 131

College St.

College St., originally uploaded by billaday.

Hey kids, turn right to get to college...

Day 130

brick

brick, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is actually the brand new Covina Performing Arts Center. They tried to make it look like the super old Covina Performing Arts Center. I drive by this after work often, and like the long shadow of the lamp. So I decided to shoot it today.

Day 129

to be two again

to be two again, originally uploaded by billaday.

Before dinner, we were playing in the backyard. They were loving the big, green backyard. Everet was chasing me in this picture--I zoomed in as I took it to add some motion to the background.

Day 128

Shadow of the Day

Shadow of the Day, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is one of those shots that ended up like I wanted (but didn't start out like I wanted). I knew there was lots of glare from the sun when I took it. I pulled out the texture in Photoshop and pretty much got what I saw (in my brain) when I walked over to take the picture. I'm sure there's a moral or lesson or something in this rambling. Or not.

Day 127

study.

study., originally uploaded by billaday.

I'm going back to school (again) for one last class. I have to also pass the CSET in math, which sounded like a great idea, but entails all math that I've ever taken for the last 20 years. So here's the giant study guide.

Day 126

rice picture

rice picture, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've decided that Pick Up Stix has some strange employees. On this trip/lunch/adventure, there was ANOTHER person there with an In-N-Out cup. Last time we were there, the manager was eating a Double Double, asking us why we don't like In-N-Out.

Day 125

Stand with the Avengers!

Stand with the Avengers!, originally uploaded by billaday.

Until this game, I did not know that Los Angeles had an arena football team. The game rocked! The announcer... hilarious. The field... hockey rink-sized. The score... we won with 81 points. For every kickoff, we all stood as the announcer shouted, "Stand with the Avengers!"

Day 124

Big Bear Star Trails

Big Bear Star Trails, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've been wanting to do another star trails photo for a while. I failed last night, so I did some homework. Here's what I did/learned:
• I took 33 photos
• total exposure time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
• each photo was about 3 minutes long
• f/3.5 (which was counter-intuitive, but that's what everyone else does. The stars are brighter with a wider aperture.)
• ISO 200 (that's the lowest my dSLR gets)
• manual focus (on the house at the bottom)
• Photoshop: changed layer properties to Lighten, aligned photos (barely at all), masked out top right corner (it was purplish)

This will officially be my earliest photo-a-day blog posting. It's 3:32 am. I had to wonderful idea to start at 1:00 am with this shot.

Day 123

Antennae

Antennae, originally uploaded by billaday.

Even the earth wants better cell phone coverage.

Day 122

goblet of light

goblet of light, originally uploaded by billaday.

The Big Bear cabin has so much character to it. Any guesses what this is?? (Is it obvious because I took it or obvious because it's obvious?)

Day 121

lit

lit, originally uploaded by billaday.

Turns out, it's cold in Big Bear. I made a fire (after a lot of effort). My original photo-a-day idea was a star trails picture, but there were no stars out on this overcast evening.

Day 120

Running Springs at sunset

Running Springs at sunset, originally uploaded by billaday.

on my way up to Big Bear for some songwriting, photography, and relaxation

Day 119

Stitch

Stitch, originally uploaded by billaday.

I like the design of the stitchwork on my shoe. It sorta vaguely reminds me of comets flying through the outer space that is my (fake) suede shoe.

Day 118